Vegan Bodega Coming to Manhattan’s Lower East Side!

From vegan ice cream parlors and chocolate shops to vegan pop-up restaurants and high end dining, it’s pretty easy to live a vegan lifestyle in New York City, but if there is one thing that doesn’t make you think “vegan-friendly,” it’s the bodega. But our veg-only friends can rejoice because one New Yorker is working hard to change that by opening the city’s first vegan bodega in the Lower East Side. Using the fundraising website IndieGoGo, Eric Hopf, a vegan stay-at-home dad is hoping to raise $15,000 to secure the space, stock the shelves, and open the doors for NYC’s first and only one stop shop for vegan groceries.

Hopf, a former photographer’s assistant, has said that the store’s location will be either the East Village or the Lower East Side, even though he lives in Brooklyn with his partner and daughter, both of whom are also vegans. The hopeful opening date is two months from now, even though Hopf has only raised about $2500 of the necessary $15,000.

The bodega would carry everyday vegan groceries as well as everyday household products like cleaning supplies and toiletries. Hopf also wants to carry specialty items like vegan caviar, by-the-pound Field Roast cutlets, and Daiya cheese. If the demand is there, the store will also sell beer and partner with a local CSA to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. In other words, he wants the shop to have “Every vegan thing you wish you could get at your local bodega.”

To help the vegan bodega become a reality, you can donate on the IndieGoGo page. Each donation will get a special thank you, and the higher donations will earn you discounts and special gifts!